Refrigerator



Jan. 26, 1937. M HOKANSON 2,069,149

. REFRIGERATOR .Filed Sept. 10, 1934 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES DEC 3 1940 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR Martin Hokanson, Duluth, Minn., assignor to Eidco, Inc., Duluth, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application September 10, 1934, Serial No. 743,395

4 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators and has special reference to the arrangement of the interior parts of the refrigerator, the principal obiect being to materially improve the preserving properties thereof and to provide novel facilities for expediting the cleansing of such a refrigerator.

Another object is toprovide means within the refrigerator for maintaining uniform moisture content of the air within the refrigerator, and to make it impossible for foodstuffs within the refrigerator to obstruct the circulation of air therein.

A further object is to provide a shallow space below the lowermost food shelf which acts as a baffle at the door and prevents the cold air from readily escaping from the refrigerator when the but forwardly of the drain pipe thereof.

Figure 2 is a similar view taken at right angles to Figure 1 and in close proximity to the drain pip Figure 3 is an enlarged central sectional view of the drain pipe connection and trap therefor.

Figure 4 is a fragmental top plan view of Figure 3 illustrating the construction of the trap.

Figure 5 is a broken perspective View partly in section of the drip pan.

I represents the side walls of the refrigerator, 2 the back, and 3 the bottom thereof, while 24 is a portion of the front wall and 5 the food compartment door. The bottom wall 3 is inclined from the front thereof rearwardly and has provided therein centrally and at the rearmost edge the semi-circularly shaped wall 4, it being under-' stood that the lining of the bottom wall and sides for a distance upwardly to the level of the door threshold are preferably formed of a single piece of sheet metal, and the bottom also is inclined downwardly towards the center from either side thereof, thus forming a sort of gutter or runway for the natural flow of any liquid on the bottom towards the wall 4. At the forward edge of the bottom, transverse the doorway, an upwardly extending threshold 6 is formed in a manner so that the sheet lining of the bottom terminates at the upper edge ofthe threshold,

and the corner thus formed is curved and smooth to provide convenience in the washing out of or cleansing of the bottom of the refrigerator. It is to be noted also that one novel feature of the invention is that a pervious bottom shelf 1 5 is provided, it being level and similar in all respects to the other shelves in the refrigerator, except that its front end terminates on a level with the inner edge of the threshold 6, and that where it contacts 'the back wall 8 of the 10 food compartment it is provided with an impervious to splashing portion or strip parallel with and just in front of the back wall 8. This impervious strip 2| is for the express purpose of preventing the splashing of water which drips 15 downwardly in the drip compartment or space intermediate of the back wall 8 and the back wall 2 of the refrigerator, as it is well known that this drip in some instances becomes quite objectionable in splashing onto food or other ob- 20 jects in the food compartment of the refrigerator and by this means such annoyance is wholly eliminated. It is also apparent that this impervious portion may be accomplished by using a fine screen of metal, or an independent thin 25 sheet of material may be used if desired.

It is to be understood that the back wall 8 of the food compartment is of the removable type such as shown in my copending application Serial Number 732,289, and that the shelves 1 and 9 30 for example are supported upon the sides only of suitable angle brackets or clips indicated at It). In conjunction with such movable back wall and shelves I have illustrated a convenient type of trap which is readily accessible when the shelves 5 and back wall are removed so that the cleansing process becomes exceptionally convenient. This trap arrangement preferably comprises a section of non-conducting pipe or tubing ll extending through the bottom wall 3 of the refrigerator 40 and having mounted in the uppermost end thereof the nipple I2 threaded therein and passing through the wall 4 in the bottom of the refrigerator, but extending short of a level with the upper marginal edge of the wall so that a semi- 45 spherical cap as indicated at l3 may be set down over the nipple; it being understood that the nipple is well soldered or welded to the metal of the wall to prevent leakage, and that the cap l3 carries fixed thereto, the radially disposed web 50 members M, the exterior of which are shaped to neatly fit the circularly shaped wall. These webs carry upon their opposed lowermost ends a sleeve member l5 which fits down over the nipple and acts as a guide, assuring a fixed position of the I form a positive and dependable trap or seal for the drain. By this arrangement it is: evident that the possibility of blocking or retarding the circulation of air from the bottom of the drip space orconduit into the food compartment by the placing of food or other objects against the wall 8 and in the path of the air circulation is entirely eliminated, as even if the shelf I is largely covered with objects, sufiicient open space remains for complete circulation. In fact the benefit of such a shelf adjacent the bottom is quite obvious, for, when somewhat covered with food, packages, or the like, better or more even distribution of the circulating cold air takes place throughout the food compartment. A still further advantage exists by such construction in that when the door ;5 is opened the cold air is not free to rush out at the lower part of the door but is controlled by the combination baflie 6 and shelf '7.

At the upper end of the food compartment is installed the inclined drip pan l6 as is common in refrigerators. 'I-Iowever in this instance the pan is covered with a corrugated sheet of metal as shown at I! and which, is deemed novel and advantageous in that it is flattened at both ends, that is the corrugations stop short of either end and. at the lower end it is turned down vertically and overlaps the inner upper edge of the wall 8 as at l8 so as to drip clear of said wall. into the drip space as clearly seen in Figure 5 of the drawing, while the opposite flattened end ll! of the cover I! overlaps the upwardly extending bead 20, thus making a simple and efiicient drip pan which remains uniformly damp and moist, and drips freely into the drip space.

Having thus described my invention, what I.

most terminus to said pan whereby to evenly distribute the drip from the pan below the ice, laterally into said drip compartment, and means adJacent the bottom of the drip compartment to prevent drip water splashing into the food compartment, said means being located so as not to interfere with air circulation within said refrigerator.

2. In a refrigerator, a food compartment characterized by the back wall and bottom of the food compartment being spaced respectively from the back wall and bottom of the refrigerator, the space between said bottoms being substantially not less than the space between said back walls, thereby forming an unobstructed space for the flow of air between said back walls and bottoms towards the food compartment, a drip pan having means projecting into the space between said back walls to convey drip from a refrigerant into said space so that it will fall to the bottom of the refrigerator, a portion of the bottom of the food compartment adjacent the back wall thereof being so formed as to prevent splashing of water therethrough from the rear bottom section of the refrigerator.

3. A drip pan for refrigerators adapted to be placed beneath an ice rack therein and receive the drip therefrom and conduct it toward a drain, characterized by having an upper lined surface which is corrugated intermediate its ends, one end thereof being bent downwardly overone end of the pan and the other end of said lining overlapping and being rabbeted into the other end of said pan.

4. In a refrigerator having a food compartment having an open bottom, a wall of which is spaced from a wall of the refrigerator forming an unobstructed drip space therebetween extending to the bottom of the refrigerator, a drip pan having means at the top of said compartment and projecting into the top of said space across the same to cause drip from a refrigerant to fall into the top of said spacfiand thence to the bottom of the refrigerator, and means at the bottom comer of the food compartment adjacent the drip space to prevent the drip from splashing into thefood compartment.

MARTIN HOKANSON. 

